| Description | Content | Audience | Purpose | Features | Fun Factor | Recomendations |
Dr. Seuss's ABC. Novato, Ca.: Living Books, 1995.
The entire kit contains a one disk CD-ROM, an instruction manual and a paperback copy of the book, Dr. Seuss's ABC. It is compatible with both
Windows and Macintosh machines. You must be using a machine with Windows 3.0 or higher or a Macintosh or PowerMacintosh to access the CD's
contents.
Essentially an aid for children learning the alphabet, Dr. Seuss's
ABC closely follows the text and illustrations of the 1963 Dr. Seuss book of the same name. Led by two friendly characters, Ichabod and Izzy, a
child has five options from the CD-ROM's main page. These options include: Read to Me, Let Me Play, Options, the ABC Song, and Quit.
By pressing the Read to Me button, children can follow along as Ichabod and Izzy read the book aloud. The right and left arrow keys on the
keyboard will turn the pages backward or forward. The space bar will stop the CD at any point and return the user to the main menu.
The Let Me Play mode is a more interactive mode. By clicking on various items in the illustrations, those items come to life and emphasize
words beginning with the spotlighted letter. Those words are spelled out and highlighted on the screen. Using Dr. Seuss-like rhymes for actions not
described in the book maintains the feeling of the fantastical world he creates in his books.
The Options menu allows children to navigate through the alphabet
and allows children to select the letter they would like to see. The active Let Me Play mode is the default mode when selecting letters.
The ABC song mode has Ichabod and Izzy singing the ABC song. As
each letter is sung, it is made bold. The illustrations in the CD-ROM are inhabited by more items than
in the book. Therefore, children have more items to click on in Let Me Play Mode.
Audience:
The product is intended for preschool through kindergarten children. Though the intended audience is age 3 to 6, this material would
be suitable for any child beginning to learn English.
Purpose:
Though there is no stated objective, the implicit purpose of helping children identify letters and words that begin with those letters
is achieved.
Features:
The animations are consistent with the illustrations in the book, Dr. Seuss's A B C. The characters often point or look in the direction of
the object that is being talked about. The animation is very fluid. The
coloring of the pages is consistent with the book, too, though the CD-ROM's colors are more vivid.
The CD-ROM utilizes a great deal of playful music on every screen. The disk can be used exclusively as an audio CD with fourteen tracks. The
voices of Ichabod and Izzy are friendly and calming. The sound effects are appropriate, as well.
Both visual and audio elements enhance the viewing pleasure for the intended audience. Especially helpful are the large navigation buttons
on the main menu and the navigation buttons provided on each letter's page.
One drawback to this material is that more precocious children may get bored with a material designed to assist in teaching the ABCs.
However, there are plenty of surprises such as magic carpets, talented
turtles and bass plying barbers to keep a younger audience engaged. It would take a few hours of
continues play for a child to click on every icon on every page. Another confusing element is the lack of explanation of the left
and right arrow keys (page through the "book") and space bar (stop)
in the software. It is found in the software's manual only. Impatient children cannot stop active animations with the mouse in the middle of playing.
Fun Factor:
There were no games or interactive tests in this software, though I believe younger children will find it fun to play with. The Let Me Play
mode with its numerous items to click am very entertaining and funny.
Recommendations:
By using Dr. Seuss's name, I had high expectations for the software. I have to say that barring a few navigational peculiarities, this material
maintains the feel and silliness of a Dr. Seuss book and met my
expectations.
Reviewed by Dean Hendrix.